Cementing is a common well operation. For example, hydraulic cement compositions can be used in cementing operations in which a string of pipe, such as casing or liner, is cemented in a wellbore. The cemented string of pipe isolates different zones of the wellbore from each other and from the surface. Hydraulic cement compositions can be used in primary cementing of the casing or in completion operations. Hydraulic cement compositions can also be utilized in intervention operations, such as in plugging highly permeable zones or fractures in zones that may be producing too much water, plugging cracks or holes in pipe strings, and the like.
In performing cementing, a hydraulic cement composition is pumped as a fluid (typically in the form of suspension or slurry) into a desired location in the wellbore. For example, in cementing a casing or liner, the hydraulic cement composition is pumped into the annular space between the exterior surfaces of a pipe string and the borehole (that is, the wall of the wellbore). The cement composition is allowed time to set in the annular space, thereby forming an annular sheath of hardened, substantially impermeable cement. The hardened cement supports and positions the pipe string in the wellbore and bonds the exterior surfaces of the pipe string to the walls of the wellbore.
Hydraulic cement is a material that when mixed with water hardens or sets over time because of a chemical reaction with the water. Because this is a chemical reaction with the water, hydraulic cement is capable of setting even under water. The hydraulic cement, water, and any other components are mixed to form a hydraulic cement composition in the initial state of a slurry, which should be a fluid for a sufficient time before setting for pumping the composition into the wellbore and for placement in a desired downhole location in the well.
The addition of epoxy resin to cement has been found to significantly improve the mechanical properties of the resulting composite material. However, at increased temperatures, epoxy resin and cement in liquid state may show phase separation, which leads to structural issues and rheological incompatibility.
Accordingly, an ongoing need exists for an epoxy resin cement with high temperature compatibility during the transition time of the cement composition, i.e., the time after the placement of a cement composition in the annulus during which the cement composition changes from a true fluid to a hard set mass.